15 Ways Bill Clinton’s White House Failed America and the World

[JDPriestly]

66. The president's power depends in great part on his personality.

A good book on that is The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Maybe you have read it?

Sanders on foreign policy. He has been in Congress since at least 1992-1993. I like that fact that he is the ranking member of the Budget Committee and is on the Veterans' Affairs committee. Those two committees probably make him very realistic about the costs of our foreign and military policies. A lot of Americans think of our country as one with never ending resources. That is on the one hand true on the other false. We have the technological resources to make of our financial and physical and geographical resources enough for our people. We do not have the resources to control the world or mold it as we would like.

We can, however, set an example for the world. And I think that is where Bernie Sanders is superior to Hillary Clinton.

Sanders is popular because he is focusing on the economy. As Bill Clinton's campaign said, "It's the economy, stupid." Obama has done well with the economy considering how bad it was when he started out.

While the president does not have limitless power, he does have the power of appointment and the power of the bully pulpit. Obama made a lot of mistakes in his appointments to positions that decided our economic policies. I think Sanders would make fewer of them than Obama has or than Hillary would. Clinton reappointed Greenspan and was too influenced by the big banks like Citigroup. He made a lot of mistakes. Sanders would be wiser in that area.

Today, economics is the biggest weapon that countries are using in terms of foreign policy. I think Sanders would do best in wielding that weapon. And if you use economic power well, war and other diplomatic issues become less difficult.

That's why I back Sanders. Or part of why I back Sanders.